Terry Crosby's Social Media Strategies and Training

Spread.us Will Get You Found on the Web FAST

Terry Crosby — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:43:04 +0000

I just discovered an incredible new social sharing tool that made me smile. This tool will help you as a content creator (publisher) and a content curator.

Spread.us is a share button that you will soon be able to install on your blog/website. It allows your visitors to set up automatic Tweets and/or Facebook Likes for your current and future posts. They will never have to come back to your blog/website to share a new posts. Spread.us automatically shares as soon as you click “publish” so all your shares will happen at the same time.

What does this mean for you as a content creator (publisher)?

Enabling your website visitors (social circle) to AUTOMATICALLY share your posts on Facebook and Twitter as soon as you click publish is the secret to. . .

getting found on the web by both search engines and your target audience
establishing credibility as a leader in your industry
providing social proof that you are your industry’s trusted resource
growing your audience significantly

What does this mean for you as the content curator?

Being able to consistently break the story to your social circle is also the secret to. . .

getting found on the web by both search engines and your target audience
establishing credibility as a leader in your industry
providing social proof that you are your industry’s
growing your audience significantly
Growing your audience significantly.

Spread.us allows you to customize your Facebook and Twitter sharing settings. I assume the publisher would set up the share settings. You can choose

Twitter

You can choose

Tweet style (Retweet the original Tweet or copy and paste Tweet)
Tweet frequency (set the exact number of Tweets you would like to do per day)

You can also chose which posts you would like to share by

author
topic
edition
region

Facebook

The Facebook set up was not working for me today.

Spread.us is in public beta. Currently, The Next Web is the only site using the button; however, they will be opening up to the public soon. If you would like to install Spread.us on your blog/website you can sign up here. If you would like to auto share The Next Web’s posts click here.

I would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments? Will you use Spread.us to curate content? Will you install this Spread.us on your blog/website?

Google Social Search: How and Why

Reverse Your Facebook Personal Profile To Business Page Conversion

Terry Crosby — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:46:47 +0000

Do you regret converting your Facebook Personal Profile to a Business Page?

If you answered yes than you will be happy to hear you may be able to reverse that conversion by filing a Profile to Business Page Migration Appeal with Facebook.

The appeal process is simple. . .

Start by clicking here
provide your user name and
the URL of the Business Page created
click “submit”

Facebook clarifies on the appeal form the following

“Profile to business Page migrations are meant for profiles that do not represent a person. If you have accidentally migrated your profile to a Page, you can submit your request for a reversal. Please keep in mind that we will remove your business Page if your profile is restored. We may reject any appeals that we deem to be inappropriate. Further, we may not reply to all submitted appeals.”

After you submit your appeal you will see the following message from Facebook:

“Thanks for contacting Facebook. You should receive an email response shortly. Note that you may need to respond to this email before we can assist you further.”

I submitted an appeal a few hours ago and haven’t received Facebook’s response email so I don’t know how long the process will take. I will keep you updated and would love to hear about your progress.

Good News! You Can Now Convert Your Facebook Personal Profile Into a Business Page

Terry Crosby — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:08:02 +0000

Facebook just released the Personal Page Migration Tool which allows users to convert their Personal Profile into a Business Page. Your Facebook friends would turn into your fans (or “likers”).

You should consider converting your Facebook Personal Profile into a Business Page if you. . .

mistakenly set up your business on the Personal Profile. (Using a personal profile for business is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. If you don’t convert your profile to a Page, you risk permanently losing access to the profile and all of your content. )
are using your Personal Profile to promote your business and have hit the 5000 friend limit. Business Pages allow an unlimited number of fans (or “likers”) and Pages offer more robust features for organizations, businesses, brands, and public figures, which you can learn more about here.
would like your business to get found by your target audience. Pages and posts from Pages are being indexed by search engines which helps increase the likelihood of your business appearing in search engine results. Facebook Personal Profile posts are not indexed by the search engines.

How do I convert my Personal Profile into a Business Page?

Facebook has added a new Help Center article on migrating profiles to Pages with details about the migration process. Any user with a verified account can use the migration tool.

What you need to know before you convert your Personal Profile into a Business Page. . .

Only your profile photo and friends will be transferred to your new Business Page. All other profile content, including additional photos and wall posts will disappear and all Like connections to other Pages will be severed. Therefore, prior to converting you must use Facebook’s Download Your Information tool to back up your content.
There is no way to convert a Page to a user profile.
Users with less than 100 friends can rename their new Page during the migration process, but those with more than 100 friends must use their profile name.
Your friends turn into your fans (or “likers”).
You won’t be able to write on the walls of friends or see their updates in the news feed once you become a Page.

I would love to hear from you. Will you be converting your Personal Profile into a Business Page? What are your questions about whether or not to convert?

UPDATE: You may be able to reverse that conversion by filing a Profile To Business Page Migration Appeal with Facebook.

Get a free blog setup with the purchase of Headway!

Terry Crosby — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:06:13 +0000

Headway themes is running a special you need to check out:

THIS WEEK ONLY: Purchase the Headway theme for WordPress and get your Headway/Wordpress blog set up for free!

Johnny will set up your blog for free if you purchase Headway.

You get:

Your blog set up
Plugins installed
Headway installed

All for free. If you have none of these things, Johnny’s got you covered. Just head on over here.

You can only get this free blog set up for a limited time: from the 15th to the 18th, which is only a few days. And you must get your hosting through Johnny too. Don’t wait or you’ll kick yourself.

P.S. Headway is my favorite wordpress theme. You can read my review here.

Facebook Page Upgrade News: Customize Your Page Tab Names

Terry Crosby — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:59:03 +0000

This post serves as an update to my Solution Guide To The Facebook Page Changes.

I learned from Nathan Latka that Facebook Page admins can customize some of their Facebook Page Tab names.

Instructions:

Click “edit page” located in the top right of your Facebook Page;
Click “Apps” located in the left navigation;
Locate the app you would like give a custom tab name;
Click “edit settings” located under the app;
You will see “Custom Tab Name” and a box for you to type desired name;
Click Save and you are done.

Click here and scroll down to No. 5, “Design Your Navigation”, to learn how to delete and rearrange your Facebook Page tabs

Local SEO Strategies (Google Places)

Yusuf Chowdhury — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:52:59 +0000

Google Places, formally known as Google Local Business Center, has brought great change to both local search and traditional organic search.

As a local business. it used to be easy to be guaranteed a spot in the top 7 local listings. You simply had to list with Google your physical location, an optimized Google map page and an accurate citation (your name, address and phone number). In addition to the Google local listings being an eyesore, it also pushed the organic listings down the page. Google Places now integrates it’s Place Pages with it’s organic listings.

The New Face of the Google’s Local Business Listings: Google Places

With its innate aim to fight map spam and create a stronger online presence, Google opted to make some local algorithmic tweaks. These are some of the techniques that you need to implement to dominate your the pages for your local business.

Optimize Your Website by Creating Landing Pages per Location:

Make sure you optimize your website based on location-centered keywords. Adding your city, state and industry specific keywords (categories) can make a huge difference. Remember that the credibility of your links may also be proportionate to the location of your business. Create location pages with a call to action and optimize them in the following areas:

Title Tags Add your business name and location city and state – no more than 70 characters
Meta Description Type something like visit for the best and experience the essence of , then add your full address. Make sure you don’t exceed 170 characters.
Header Tags in the description Add something like “Welcome to your business name at your location. Be sure to tag it with H1
Content – 200-250 words that includes your city, state and industry keywords (categories)
Contact Information – Make sure you add your N.A.P (name, phone number & address). Note: your N.A.P. needs to be consistent throughout the web. For ex., if a Suite no is included in your address be sure to consistently type Suite as Ste. OR Suite.
Add a Facebook fan page and/or a Follow us on Twitter link, then add a Goggle Place Page.
Build location based authoritative back-links: For example, Better Business Bureau of San Antonio Texas, Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio Texas, and other high ranking and authoritative business directories

Optimize Your Google Places Page:

Create Google Place Pages for Every Location

Verification Make sure you claim your Google Place pages by clicking on “Edit this place”. You’ll be verified via phone or post card.
Title: Include your business name, location and industry keywords (categories)
Contact Information- Make sure you add your phone number & address that will match your website.
Link to relevant landing pages: link to your landing or location base pages and not your primary website
Categories are very important so expand it to at least five categories. NOTE: As you start typing your category you will notice a drop down menu appear. Be sure to first select as many categories from that drop down menu before creating your own categories.
Add Photos and Videos. Take some pictures of your business location, your office, and even your employees. Be creative.
Reviews. Encourage your customers to review your business. Don’t worry about bad reviews. Try to be transparent.
Build citations: Your citations will appear at the bottom of your Google Place page. They are mentions of your business’ name, address and phone number. You can add to your citations by adding, claiming and/or optimizing your business in Yahoo, Bing, Map Listing, Foursquare, Yelp etc… You may use getlisted.org for that. Create some type of consistent activities on Foursquare, Facebook Places and Twitter Places. Also, check out Google Hotpot Ratings. Click here to learn where to get more local citations.
Add coupons

With all the new features of Google Places and all these neat, white hat techniques, your business website will definitely find its place among online users. Not only will Google Places give your business a more visible location, but it will make you more visible under the online hotspot.

About The Author

Yusuf Chowdhury is a Social Media & Online Marketing Consultant who focuses on promoting and building a continuing relationship with new potential clients, using social media and online marketing strategies. Yusuf have consulted with many non-profit organizations, small businesses, and online education groups to help them use social media and online marketing, develop ingenious ideas, and find ways to promote and advance their business. Yusuf gets great satisfaction from empowering others to start their business, seeing them grow and become independent, and lending a hand to help them create a lasting legacy for themselves and their families.

Your Solution Guide to the Facebook Page Changes

Terry Crosby — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:30:56 +0000

1. For now, Facebook Page Upgrade Is An Opt-In?

The next time you visit your Facebook Page you will be given the option to “opt-in” to the new Page upgrade. Once you opt-in you can’t go back. However, all Pages will be automatically upgraded on March 10, 2011.

Overall, I am happy with the upgrade.

2. Facebook Page Wall Filters/Non-Chronological Page Walls

There are now only two choices: “everyone” and “only posts by page”. I am very happy to see we can still set the default landing tab. The “Everyone” filter provides a new way for people to see the most interesting posts first. In short, the update that receives the most engagement will rise to the top until another update receives more engagement.

Click here to view the embedded video.

UPDATE (2/18/11) regarding the non-chronological Page walls: Every user sees a “different” version of your Page wall. The algorithm is very similar to your News Feed. If a friend you interact with posts on a Page you Like, their post appears higher than non-friends when you view the Page.

UPDATE: The chronological wall post order back is now included as one of the two filters. Similar to your News Feed, your Page now has the options of “Top Posts” and “Most Recent”. Most Recent is the chronological order and Top Posts is popularity order. Users set their own default view.

~~To see chronological order for ease of moderating, click admin view~~

UPDATE 3/11:

1) Admin View is now the spam filter called Hidden Posts. To manage any posts flagged as spam, mouseover each one, click the “x” and select from the option you wish. Unmarking a post as spam posts it back onto the wall for all to see. You can also ban users this way – whether a fan or another Page.

2) The filters at the top right of the wall are now Page name + Top Posts with a little arrow beside it – when you click the arrow, you can change to Most Recent, which is in chronological order.

3. You can reset your Facebook Page category and subcategory

You are no longer locked into the category you set when you created your Fan Page.

How to reset your category and subcategory:

Click on “edit page” in top right corner
Click on “basic information” in left navigation bar;
set your category;
set your subcategory

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Solution to the random placement of your Pages last 5 tagged photos

Just like your personal profile, the Pages have the photo strip above the Wall. However, there is one BIG difference. Unlike the personal profile, the top 5 photos are randomly placed. Pat Flynn found the solution (see above screenshot). He uploaded 5 photos that didn’t depend on the order of placement.

Tip: You can easily remove a photo that you are tagged in from you last 5 by hovering over photo and clicking on the “x”. Click the “hide photo” button. This removes the photo from your photo strip without untagging.

Click here to view the embedded video.

5. Design Your Navigation

New Navigation

The navigation tabs have been moved to the left under the Page photo (just like your personal profile page).

You are now able design how you want your tabs to show in the navigation.

Tips for easy tab navigation:

6 tabs show on home page. Your visitors just need to click “more” to see all of your tabs. Be sure to hide the tabs you do not want your visitor to see.

Make it easy for your visitor to navigate your tabs by arranging them appropriately.

How to hide a tab:

Click “more” located under your tabs;
Click “edit”;
You will now see an “x” next to each tab;
Click on the “x” to hide

How to rearrange your tabs:

Click “more” located under your tabs;
Click “edit”
Hover over the tab you would like to move;
Drag tab to desired location

Click here to view the embedded video.

Update (1/21/11): Click here to learn how to customize your Facebook Page tab names.

6. Finally, administrators can now be Featured

How to feature an administrator:

Click on “edit page” in the top right corner;
Click “featured” in the left navigation;
Click on “edit page owners”;
Choose the administrator(s) you would like to feature

7. Pages can Feature other Pages

How to feature other Pages:

Click on “edit page” in the top right corner;
Click on “Featured” in the left navigation;
Click on “edit featured likes”
Choose the pages you would like to feature

Tips:

Visit the Pages you respect in your industry. See who they “feature”. Most likely, you will find great value in those Pages.

Be sure the Pages that your Pages feature is relevant to your industry

Click here to view the embedded video.

8. Set your moderation and profanity blocklists

Moderation Blocklists: You can add comma-separated keywords to the “Moderation Blocklist”. When users include blacklisted keywords in a post and or a comment on your Page, the content will be automatically marked as spam. Wall posts will be moved to the Pages Spam filter, which is hidden from public view. Comments will appear in grey to admins, but will not appear to the public.

To unmark a Wall post as spam, click on the Spam filter to locate it, move your cursor over the post and click on the “X” that appears. You can then select the “Unmark as Spam” link. To unmark a comment as spam, locate the comment on your Page, move your cursor over the comment and click on the “X” that appears. You can then select the “Unmark as Spam” link.

How to get to to Moderation Blocklist:

Click on “edit page” in the top right of Page;
Click on “manage permissions” in the left navigation

Profanity Blocklists: Facebook will block the most commonly reported words and phrases marked as offensive by the broader community

9. Use Facebook As Your Page (my personal fovorite)

"Use Facebook as your Page"

Admins are now notified when Page receives a new "liker" and when someone interacts with Page or posts.

When an administrator choose to use Facebook as their page they:

1. receive notifications when a new person “Likes” their page. We can now thanks a new “Liker” or introduce a new “Liker” to our community.

2. receive notifications when people interact with page or posts;

3. the ability to Like and post on other Pages (the Pages you “Like” as your Page are separate from the Pages you “Like” as your personal profile);

4. have access to the news feed for your page

Click here to view the embedded video.

10. Receive email notifications when people post or comment on your Page

How To activate:

Click “edit page” in top right of Page;
Click “your settings” in the left navigation;
Check the second box;
Click “save”

11. Post and Comment as Yourself on your Page

How to activate:

From your Page click on the “use Facebook as your personal profile username” link located under the “edit button”

UPDATE: If you would like to post as yourself on your Page you must:

Click on “edit page” located at the top right of page;
Click on “your settings”;
Uncheck the top box

Do you like the Facebook Page Upgrade? Have you found a change that I missed? Have you found a solution that I missed?

4 Steps To Improving Your Social Media Presence

Yusuf Chowdhury — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:25:24 +0000

Everyone by now may have already heard about the statement social media or social media marketing, but a lot of small business owners still don’t know how to utilize it. The phenomenon of social networking such as Facebook, Linkedin, twitter etc… has gradually evolved to include more than just friends, families, college friends or even teenagers. It has also changed the way entrepreneurs do business.

My exposure with Social Media started in 2006 while helping a friend with projects in creating short films and blogs. Within a year the project produced a huge success, and with over 9 million viewers, we eventually ended up in New York Times, USA Today and many other established publications. We have indeed created our own brand.

I was really amazed by all this because most of the promotions were done for free and by raving fans. I realized the potential that Social Media plays. This allowed me to focus more on social media marketing techniques. It took me a while to learn from my mistakes but it also gave me intangible rewards along the way. The knowledge and experience gave me the opportunity to consult with many non-profit organizations, small businesses, and online education groups, and help them use Social Media and online marketing so they can find ways to expand, promote and advance their businesses for free or with more affordable prices than traditional marketing.

You might be wondering what could be the probable secrets behind our success! The truth is, there’s none. Our success as a brand was just a perfect integration of common sense and simple strategic techniques. This seamless combination made me expand my consulting services to a lot of business owners in different industries. Let me share with you the four simple steps that will increase the presence of your business in the social media radar. Whether you want to promote a personal or a business brand, following these simple steps will definitely help you go further:

1. Consistency Is The Key

You must be consistent. Whether you are providing related or valuable contents, posting videos, updating your blogs,or sharing industry breakthroughs, you need to have a constant stream. If you have chosen to do it every week, then make sure you stick to it. Most of your content should be valuable resources that can either solve problems, or give fresh or new updates.

2. Offer Help Without Expecting Anything In Return.

This could be anything from sharing some tips based on your niche to provide solution, offering advice, or sharing resources. Do whatever you can to help others reach their goals. At the same time, try to spread your connections be recommending them to people you trust and who might be able to help.

3. Listen, Respond & Engage.

Yes, this is something most businesses don’t understand. You have to pay attention to their feedback and concerns. Of course you can fulfill all their demands but it’s the listening part that will set you apart from the rest of the folks out there. Remember, engaging is the main key in social media.

4. Build Solid Relationships.

You have to look at your brand or your business in a long term perspective. Building a channel of loyal fans to your brand or product will keep your business growing. It might take a while at first but this fan base can turn into the best investment in the long run. Exerting time and effort in expanding the people who support and patronize your brand will reap lasting results in the future. When you stay connected and you follow through, you’ll see results in no time.

About The Author
Yusuf Chowdhury is a Social Media & Online Marketing Consultant who focuses on promoting and building a continuing relationship with new potential clients, using social media and online marketing strategies. Yusuf have consulted with many non-profit organizations, small businesses, and online education groups to help them use social media and online marketing, develop ingenious ideas, and find ways to promote and advance their business. Yusuf gets great satisfaction from empowering others to start their business, seeing them grow and become independent, and lending a hand to help them create a lasting legacy for themselves and their families.

How To Use Twitter Lists to Accelerate Your Twitter Influence

Terry Crosby — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:54:44 +0000

Your Tweets now have the opportunity to be included in traditional search results depending on your Twitter rank. To learn more about how Google and Bing are now ranking your Twitter reputation you will want to read my previous post here. This post and future posts will help you improve your Twitter rank.

Do you use Twitter Lists? If your answer is no then you will want to watch this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The benefits of using Twitter Lists:

Easily segment your Twitter Followers
Keep track of different networks of friends and colleagues
Improves your ability to engage
Improves your relevancy and reach
Helps to identify your brand
Helps your SEO
Help you connect with influencers
Improves your brands identity and SEO
Monitor your competitors
Carry out specific market research

Twitter List Tips:

Create your most important lists last: You can create a total of 20 lists. Only the last 10 will appear in the drop down menu. To see all 20 lists you and your visitors will need to click on the “view all” link. You can’t reorder your lists so the most important lists need to be created last.
SEO: Twitter lists are indexed by the search engines so it is important to create keyword rich list titles. Keyword research is needed to find the noncompetitive keyword phrase that is being searched for by your audience.
Private List Ideas: your competitors, your engagers, your friends, market research
Public List Ideas: industry experts, influencers, and peers
Be sure your lists are relevant to your industry
formulists.com is a list creation and management tool that allows users to effortlessly generate dynamic and personalized Twitter lists that continuously self-update. Formulists-generated lists can be viewed or deleted from any Twitter client and will continue to self-update without the need to return to the Formulists website.
Use Twitter Directories: to find and follow other relevant and influential lists

Twitter List Directory

Listorious

Twitter’s How To Use Twitter Lists

I would love for you to share in the comments how you are using Twitter Lists.

Tweet Economics: Understanding How To Use Twitter for Business (Replay)

Terry Crosby — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:05:12 +0000

Last night, I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion hosted by the San Diego Online Society (SANDIOS). We really dug deep into how businesses can use Twitter successfully. If you would like to learn more about the following areas you can listen to the replay here

How is the panel using Twitter for business?
How are we making “money” using Twitter?
Where is the Return on Investment (ROI)?
How your Twitter reputation will either help or hurt your SEO
Social Media versus Pay-Per-Click: The Customer Relationship Always Wins
Social Media Metrics: What are we measuring?
The Innovative Uses of Twitter: What We Like
Involving Sales, Marketing and CEO’s
Social Media Tool vs the Communications Process
WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?
Considerations and Strategic Decisions
Business Basics for Twitter (and pet-peeves of the panel

The panelists included:

Jim Hickey is the VP of Internet Marketing at Parallel 6, a San Diego-based social media technology and services agency, and is an expert in most aspects of Internet Marketing.

Joe Melanson, the President of Parallel 6, leverages proprietary Captive Reach technology, expert talent, processes, tools and techniques to optimize Social Media and drive measurable business results.

Crosby Noricks, Social Media Manager at Red Door Interactive, and Founder of PR Couture. In 2010, Crosby was named “Blogger of the Year” at the inaugural InfluenceSD Awards.

Chris Kameir, Chairman, San Diego Online Society (SANDios), a round-table and networking group for San Diego Internet executives.

Terry Crosby is a Social Media Consultant and Trainer who helps business manage emerging social media strategies and tools currently consulting with the Consumer Insights Department at Taco Bell.

Kevin Popović, Communications Director, Ideahaus® and Author of Satellite Marketing, a trademarked strategy for using social media for business. Kevin was recently ranked #43 in Fast Company’s Influence Project to find “the most influential people online”.

Tweet economics’ panelist summary taken from ideahaus.com

SEO Checklist for Social Media Marketers

Terry Crosby — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:47:28 +0000

Now that Google and Bing use Twitter and Facebook as ranking signals in regular search, social media marketers need to integrate search engine optimization (SEO) into their discipline. This is why I had to share with you the post I discovered today: A SEO Checklist for Social Media Marketers.

You will learn fantastic tips and best practices for:

keyword research
setting up social segments for tracking
URL shorteners
making your content easily linkable
canonicalization
page load time
using keyword in title tag
meta description
measurement

A few more beginner SEO references:

Beginner’s Guide To Search Engine Optimization
Google’s SEO Starter Guide
Hubspot’s SEO Marketing Hub

My Headway WordPress Theme Review

Terry Crosby — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:05:32 +0000

As requested, here is my review of the WordPress Headway Theme. I have fallen in love with this theme because it allows me, a non coder, the ability to create very customized site designs. Their visual editor allows you to easily custom design each page of your site. The Headway Theme also comes fully optimized for search engine findability so you will not have to slow down your site by installing multiple SEO plugins. I am still learning and will continue to update this review. You can purchase your Headway Theme here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments below. Thank you !

I am an affiliate of Headway which means I will make money from each sale. It is also important to note that I rarely promote affiliate products. I only promote those that I feel you will find a great benefit.

Improve your Twitter Influence and Reputation with Twylah (Video Review)

Improve your Twitter Influence and Reputation with Twylah (Video Review)

Terry Crosby — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:40:19 +0000

Your Tweets now have the opportunity to be included in traditional search results depending on your Twitter rank. To learn more about how Google and Bing are now ranking your Twitter reputation you will want to read my previous post here. This post and future posts will help you improve your Twitter rank.

Today, I would like to share my review of a new Twitter client called Twylah Beta. Eric Kim, the developer, states that Twylah extends the life of your tweets, increases reader engagement by creating a beautifully organized, optimized landing page for your readers. I am thrilled to say it will do that and much more. Here is my video review:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few reasons why you will want to use Twylah:

At most less than 30 percent of your tweets get read
5 seconds is the average time spent on a tweet
one hour is the life of most tweets

Twylah’s Features:

Aggregates your tweets into separate subject matter (keyword) twitter streams
Presents your tweets in a beautiful and dynamic magazine style webpage
Allows your follows to subscribe to each subject matter (keyword) twitter stream
Delivers the relevant twitter streams to your followers email
Encourages you followers to consume and engage with your tweets on your Twylah webpage
Allows you to clearly see if your tweets are relevant to your industry
Allows others to see your expertise
Allows you to better determine who to follow

Twylah’s analytics will determine

The best times and days to tweet.
Which followers to engage
The success of each of your tweets
The success of each subject matter (keyword)

You can sign up for Twylah Beta here.

Eric Kim would love to hear your thoughts and/or constructive criticisms about Twylah. Is there a feature that you think Eric should add? What would you like to see in Twylah? Please respond in the comments below. Thank you !

Who YOU Are On Facebook and Twitter Will Determine If YOU Show Up In Search Results

Terry Crosby — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:04:16 +0000

Google DOES use Twitter and Facebook links as a ranking signal. In addition, they are also looking at the reputation of the Tweet’s and/or Facebook update’s author or creator.

Matt Cutt’s explains in the following video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

What does this mean?

Not all Tweets and/or Facebook updates are treated the same because search engines are now starting to rank YOU. The higher you rank the more search engines will trust that you can provide their searcher a good experience. What is a good experience? Actually, this could be several factors but let’s keep it simple – are you providing the searcher with the information searched.

Human rank is much like a web page rank.

The rank of a web page is primarily determined by how many other highly ranked and relevant web pages point to it with a link (backlink). So a web page about basket weaving will not benefit when a low ranking web page about skydiving links to it. In fact, it could even hurt the the basket weaving webpage

A few factors search engines will be looking at when determining Your human rank:

how many people you follow; how many people follow you
the reputation and influence of the people you friend and follow.
the reputation and influence of the people that follow you
the relevance of the people you friend and follow
the relevance of the people that follow you
the quality and relevance of your updates and tweets
the quality of engagement your tweets and updates receive
the reputation and influence of the people that @mention you
the reputation and influence of the people that retweet you

I think you probably get the picture. If you would like to receive high rankings from search engines you will need to surround yourself with high quality people that relate to your industry. In addition, you need to take the time to create a real relationship with your friends and followers.

Why is it important to rank high?

You, your tweets/updates and links will show up higher in search results. Simply put, you will get found by your target audience.
You will be able to improve the rank of others by talking about them and linking to them. Now that is what I call Influence.

This isn’t only happening in the social search engines.

This has already been happening in social search engines which only serve you results from people you know. A few social search engines are

Google’s Social Search
Google’s Real Time Search
Bing’s Facebook Like Results
Bing’s Social Search
Bing Real-Time Search

Is your target audience using these search engines? Probably not.

The good news is they are starting to use this in the traditional search engines like Google and Bing where your target audience searches. Although experimental for now, we all need to be prepared for it’s full adoption.

5 ways to improve your Human Rank?

Find your industries influencers and follow them on Twitter. klout.com allows you to search for influencers by topic (keyword). Organize your influencers into a Twitter list. Check that list everyday to see how you can contribute to their influence by retweeting and/or answering one of their questions via @mention.
Engage with your influencers and target audience on Twitter via @mention.
Create a content strategy plan for your tweets. All Tweets need to relate to your industry and be high quality. I suggest finding and subscribing via RSS to your industry’s most trusted blogs. Use Google Reader to manage your RSS subscriptions. Everyday review your Google Reader for high quality and relevant links to share on Twitter and Facebook.
Use Twitter Search to find relevant conversations that you can join. I suggest spending time listening prior to joining.

Don’t worry I wasn’t going to ignore Facebook. When it comes to influencer outreach I would concentrate on Twitter first since every page is open to the search engines. It is a bit more difficult to determine human rank in Facebook since not all of your friends and fans have set their privacy settings to “everyone”. Of course, you should still be providing fantastic content on your Facebook Fan Page but that is for another blog post.

It is best to start the relationship in Twitter prior to friending your influencers on Facebook. If they have a Facebook Fan Page then “Like” it. Much like Twitter you will want to contribute to their influence by engaging with their Fan Page. You can easily check all of your influencers’ Page updates in a custom newsfeed by clicking on “Most Recent” on home page; click pages from drop down menu (see screenshot below). A few ways to engage are 1. “like” and comment their updates 2. let them showcase their expertise by asking them questions on their wall 3. share their links.

How to only see the updates of the Facebook Fan Pages you have "Liked"

I will continue to provide more tips and tricks that will improve your human rank in future posts. Please provide your ideas, strategies and tips in the comments below.

To learn more about how Google and Bing are treating social signals review the following questions and answers provided by DannySullivan in What Social Signals Do Bing and Google Really Count?

If an article is retweeted or referenced much in Twitter, do you count that as a signal outside of finding any non-nofollowed links that may naturally result from it?

Bing:

We do look at the social authority of a user. We look at how many people you follow, how many follow you, and this can add a little weight to a listing in regular search results. It carries much more weight in Bing Social Search, where tweets from more authoritative people will flow to the top when best match relevancy is used.
Google:

Yes, we do use it as a signal. It is used as a signal in our organic and news rankings. We also use it to enhance our news universal by marking how many people shared an article [NOTE: see the end of this article for more about that].

Do you try to calculate the authority of someone who tweets that might be assigned to their Twitter page. Do you try to “know,” if you will, who they are?

Bing:

Yes. We do calculate the authority of someone who tweets. For known public figures or publishers, we do associate them with who they are. (For example, query for Danny Sullivan)

Google:

Yes we do compute and use author quality. We don’t know who anyone is in real life

Do you calculate whether a link should carry more weight depending on the person who tweets it?

Bing:

Yes.

Google:

Yes we do use this as a signal, especially in the “Top links” section [of Google Realtime Search]. Author authority is independent of PageRank, but it is currently only used in limited situations in ordinary web search.

Do you track links shared within Facebook, either through personal walls or fan pages?

Bing:

Yes. We look at links shared that are marked as “Everyone,” and links shared from Facebook fan pages.

Google:

We treat links shared on Facebook fan pages the same as we treat tweeted links. We have no personal wall data from Facebook.

Do you try to calculate the authority of someone on Facebook, either say via their personal wall or their fan page.

Bing:

We don’t do this on Facebook. On Facebook, we only get what’s public, only updates and things you’ve posted to everyone as viewable. We don’t get things only shared with friends, so we don’t know how authoritative you are on Facebook. There isn’t the whole convenient retweet mechanism we see on Twitter.
We do see valuable content shared by Facebook users, even though we only get what’s public. For example when Gary Coleman died we saw a video from Different Strokes, saying his favorite line “what ya talk’in ’bout Willis” gain popularity. It happened to be what a lot of people are sharing on the day he passed away.

Google:

Again, the treatment is the same as for Twitter. And we have no personal wall data from Facebook.

Do you calculate whether a link should carry more weight depending on the person who shared it on Facebook?

Bing:

We can tell if something is of quality on Facbook by leveraging Twitter. If the same link is shared in both places, it’s more likely to be legitimate.

Google:

Same as question 5.

And just to be really clear, the new Facebook data is not yet being used in ordinary web search, right? (asked only Bing, because it was only relevant to them)

No.

What did Facebook do with your friend lists?

Terry Crosby — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:14:39 +0000

Facebook has definitely been keeping us all on our toes lately with their seemingly daily changes. Today Meetu Singhal alerted me that Facebook is rolling out a new way to filter the news feed. If you have been given access to this change you will see a drop down arrow next to your most recent news tab on your home page. If you click on the arrow you will see filters for games, status updates, Photos, Links, Pages, Games and friend lists. To learn more watch the following video:

Click here to view the embedded video.